Stupid Mistakes
by Petite Fille
Summary: Rory and Dean's already shaky relationship takes a nosedive when Rory kisses Jess while Dean's on a family trip.


Stupid Mistakes  
  
*None of the characters, places, or other elements of the story besides the plot and dialogue are mine. This is my first attempt at a fan-fiction, so don't be too nasty when you review!  
  
  
  
Rory was walking down the street with Dean. They had just seen a movie and were now just walking around Stars Hollow, talking. They were heading out by Luke's when Rory spotted a familiar shape across the street.  
  
"Hey! Jess!" called Rory.  
  
Jess waved, and started to walk over. Rory felt Dean stiffen behind her. He put a possessive arm around her.  
  
"Hey, Rory," said Jess. He saw Dean. "Rory's friend.Dan, was it?"  
  
"Dean," Dean corrected. "And I'm her BOYfriend."  
  
"Whatever," dismissed Jess.  
  
The boys just stood there, staring at each other for a minute or two. Dean's look said, "She's MY girlfriend" and Jess's seemed to say, "So what?"  
  
"We have to get going," said Rory suddenly. "Come on, Dean." She and Dean started to walk away, when Jess called, "See you later, Rory!"  
  
Without thinking, Rory called back, "Yeah! See you later!"  
  
Once they were out of earshot, the fight began.  
  
"I don't like that you hang around him so much," said Dean.  
  
"Dean, I'm not with him THAT MUCH,"laughed Rory.  
  
"He likes you," said Dean. "Just like that idiot at your school who wanted to fight me...what's his name..."  
  
"Tristan," reminded Rory. "And trust me - I'm about as romantically interested in Jess as I was in Tristan."  
  
"I don't care," said Dean. "I'd just feel better if you weren't so friendly with him."  
  
"Why? Don't you trust me?" asked Rory.  
  
"Of course, I trust you!" Dean shot back.  
  
"Then why are you asking me to stop talking to Jess?"  
  
"Because he's interested in my girlfriend!"  
  
"Yeah, but your girlfriend isn't ABOUT to let anything happen!"  
  
"I know. That's why YOU'RE not the one I'm worried about."  
  
"Dean!"  
  
"Rory!"  
  
"You're being completely unreasonable."  
  
"I don't think I am! What's so unreasonable about asking you to stop encouraging guys who like you?"  
  
"I'm not encouraging him!" argued Rory.  
  
"Well, you're not DIScouraging him."  
  
"So? Those are two different things! Why can't I be friends with a guy?"  
  
"You can, but you shouldn't be friends with guys that are interested in you. I didn't become best buddies with the chick who tried to flirt with me at your school dance."  
  
"Louise?"  
  
"Maybe. It was the blonde one."  
  
"That's Louise!" laughed Rory.  
  
"Yeah, well, at least I didn't become her best friend!" said Dean.  
  
"And I'm not Jess's best friend," insisted Rory.  
  
"Yes you are! You're the only person in this town he'll give the time of day."  
  
"Well...people aren't very nice to him."  
  
"For good reason!"  
  
"Because he's new. And guess what, Dean? You were new to this town at one point, too, and you weren't exactly Mr. Popularity, either."  
  
"Yeah, but I didn't go around town giving people a REASON to hate me."  
  
"And neither does Jess!"  
  
"What do you call that stunt he pulled with the fake chalk outline?"  
  
"That was a prank. And if Taylor had ANY sense of humor, he would have laughed it off instead of turning it into a way to get the town up in arms against Luke."  
  
"Yeah, well, he stole Babette's gnome."  
  
"Give me a break, Dean. Yeah, he got off to a bad start in this town, but he's not a bad person."  
  
"He wasn't a bad person until he started to chase my girlfriend."  
  
"He's hardly chasing me!"  
  
"Yes he is! He knows you have a boyfriend, and even when I'm standing right there, he flirts with you. And he butts in on our dates!"  
  
"First of all, you're being paranoid, and secondly, I called out to Jess first."  
  
"So you're interested in him?"  
  
"DEAN!"  
  
"Well? I think I have a right to know if I don't have my girlfriend's undivided attention!"  
  
"Of course you have my undivided attention. But I'm not going to stop being friends with Jess because you're jealous."  
  
Dean was beginning to weaken. He knew Rory was right, as always. But this Jess thing made him uneasy. With Tristan, he hadn't worried because Rory detested him. But Rory was friends with Jess. And he knew that Jess wasn't going to settle for being "just friends" with a girl. Especially not with Rory Gilmore.  
  
Dean sighed. "I can't stop you from being friends with him. But I can say, that I don't like this!"  
  
"I know you don't," Rory said softly. "And I PROMISE, nothing will happen."  
  
"I know you'll try," said Dean. "I have to go home. Bye, Rory."  
  
Rory watched the tall boy head in the direction of his house, and she started in the opposite direction towards hers. She wished he didn't feel the way he did, but at the same time, she understood. It made her slightly uncomfortable when other girls flirted with Dean, but he had never reciprocated, or shown any kind of interest in those girls, so that made it okay. However, she was showing a friendly interest in Jess. She wasn't romantically interested in him, but if he liked her, well...that could pose a few problems. It ALREADY was posing a few problems.  
  
Rory was so lost in her thoughts, she hardly noticed as she walked into her pitch-black living room.  
  
"Hi, Rory!" said a voice from behind her, that made Rory jump out of her skin.  
  
"Mom! You startled me!" said Rory breathlessly.  
  
"Whoa! Where have YOU been?"  
  
"On a date with Dean. Didn't you know?" asked Rory.  
  
"That's what I thought," said Lorelei. "But you usually don't come home this jumpy. You've always been walking on air."  
  
"Yeah, well, we had a fight," said Rory.  
  
"Uh oh!" said Lorelei. Alarms went off in her head. She remembered how Rory had been after her last fight with Dean, before she started wallowing. It hadn't been pretty, and she could tell that it had been tearing...  
  
"It wasn't that kind of fight, Mom," said Rory. "It was an argument."  
  
"About?"  
  
"Jess."  
  
"Jess?"  
  
"Yeah. I said hi to him while we were on our walk, and Dean got upset."  
  
"Well, at least he cares," said Lorelei sitting down on the sofa.  
  
"Yeah, but he doesn't want me to talk to Jess," said Rory, sitting down next to her mother. She was so glad she had her mother to talk to. Everything was so much easier if she sat down and discussed her situation with Lorelei.  
  
"Well, my advice would be to give him a few days to cool off, and then talk to him about it calmly and rationally."  
  
"And what if he hasn't changed his mind?"  
  
"Well, then, you have to decide if your friendship with Jess is worth your relationship with Dean."  
  
"But I don't want to make that decision. I don't want to jeopardize a wonderful relationship with Dean for a FRIENDSHIP with the town bad boy, but on the other hand, why should a friendship be such a source of envy for a guy, unless there's something WRONG with that guy?"  
  
"It's a conundrum," said Lorelei. "but I think Dean will calm down and see your side of it in a day or two."  
  
There was a pause as Rory took it in.  
  
"You really think so?"  
  
"Yes I do."  
  
"Thanks, Mom," said Rory, as she got up to go to bed.  
  
  
  
1 To be continued... 


End file.
